BLM activist’s income tripled while nonprofit revenue dropped.

Shaun King Accused of Financial Mismanagement and Fraud

Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King has been accused of financial mismanagement and fraud. Recent tax filings show that King’s income from his social justice nonprofit, Grassroots Law Project, more than tripled in 2021, even as revenues fell 60 percent.

King’s Compensation Boost

In 2021, King received $268,600 in salary from Grassroots Law Project, up from $104,167 the year before. The nonprofit also paid King’s media company, The North Star, $60,000 to rent its email list. This boost to King’s compensation came as Grassroots Law’s revenues fell from $6.6 million to $2.6 million.

Grassroots Law Project

King formed Grassroots Law Project in 2020, claiming that “white supremacy, bigotry, greed, and corruption are at the center of police violence and mass incarceration.” The nonprofit has called for prosecutions of police and claims it helped “ensure” the conviction of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer who killed George Floyd.

Grassroots Law Project operates a political action committee of the same name that King has used to cover major personal expenses. The PAC paid $40,000 to a California kennel to purchase a thoroughbred show dog for King.

Allegations of Financial Mismanagement and Fraud

While King has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, his fellow activists have long accused him of financial mismanagement or fraud at his various advocacy groups.

Samaria Rice, the mother of police shooting victim Tamir Rice, accused King in 2021 of raising money from her son’s case without her permission and claimed the activist “robbed me for the death of my son.”

Activist DeRay McKesson has accused his former ally of “running a long con” through a shadowy network of activist nonprofits. Another activist who worked with King called him “a liar & a fraud.”

King has denied allegations of fraud, while at times acknowledging failures in his management and leadership style. He has threatened his naysayers with legal action, though he has not followed through to date.

Decline in Racial Justice Industry

Grassroots Law Project’s dramatic revenue decline marks a trend for the racial justice industry, which has been hurt by waning interest in the movement and allegations of financial mismanagement.

The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation’s revenues declined 88 percent from 2021 to 2022. The founders of Black Lives Matter Global used funds from the nonprofit to line their own pockets and those of relatives and friends. The group spent roughly $15 million on real estate purchases in 2020 and 2021, including a spacious $6 million mansion that founder Patrisse Cullors used as her personal resort.

Grassroots Law Project claims it paid $525,000 to cover legal services for, and production of a documentary about Marvin Guy, a black man on death row in Texas. The nonprofit also paid $609,306 to develop model legislation regarding criminal justice and police reform issues. Another $293,253 went to the families of victims of police violence.

King formed Grassroots Law Project with Lee Merrit, a Texas attorney who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general. Before founding Grassroots Law Project, King and Merrit took up the cause of a seven-year-old Houston girl who was shot and killed while riding in her mother’s car. King falsely accused a white man, Robert Cantrell, of killing the girl, who was black. Two other men, both black, were arrested and convicted in the murder. Cantrell committed suicide months later.

Grassroots Law Project did not respond to a request for comment.

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